The Timberwolves are taking over downtown Minneapolis again.

This time, the team has rented out a parking lot kitty-corner to Target Center for a series of parties ahead of the Wolves’ two home games against the Dallas Mavericks. Wednesday’s Game 1 marks the first time in two decades the Timberwolves have made it to the Western Conference finals.

In 2004, the Lakers won the series but lost the championship to the Detroit Pistons.

The Wolves put up a mural on the building next to Gluek’s to provide a backdrop for a watch party set for Friday. The facade features Anthony Edwards, who recently and inadvertently gave the Minnesota travel industry a new catchphrase, flanked by Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and five other players.

Dave Holcombe, one of the restaurant’s operators, recalls that the Lynx did something similar for Maya Moore when Minneapolis hosted the WNBA all-star game in 2018.

“It was up for like two days, but I assume they’re going to leave this up until we’re over,” Holcombe said.

Staff writer Jeff Day contributed to this story.

The embattled Minneapolis 2040 Plan could finally move forward despite a series of lawsuits, reports Madison McVan in Minnesota Reformer. The news comes after the legislature signed a 1400-page bill that includes an exemption from environmental review for comprehensive plans.

According to McVan, “The law applies retroactively to the most recent comprehensive plans created in the seven-county metro area, including the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, which has been stymied in recent years by environmental lawsuits.” The law does not apply to individual buildings, which will still undergo environmental review.

As McVan explains, “The law passed Sunday night is a compromise between environmental groups, which seek to protect the integrity of the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, and city governments, including Minneapolis, which want all comprehensive plans statewide to be exempt from environmental review.”